2023-04-30 07:55:35
The US Central Command accused Russian pilots of aggressive behavior in the skies over Syria, reports CNN. The Pentagon does not rule out that Russian Air Force pilots may provoke American colleagues, which will lead to an international incident.
The Central Command has published two videos of pilots maneuvering in Syrian airspace. CNN claims the first footage shows a “Russian fighter jet” conducting an “unsafe and unprofessional” interception of a US F-16 aircraft. The second video, writes CNN, shows a “Russian fighter” that “violated coalition airspace and approached the American aircraft at 2,000 feet.”
Official interlocutors of the channel claim that since the beginning of March, Russian aircraft have violated the protocols of the deconflict situation 85 times. The Russian side, according to the Pentagon, got in touch about the incidents, but never acknowledged them. “This is probably in line with their new ways of working,” the source told CNN.
On March 14, an American MQ-9 Reaper drone crashed into the Black Sea. Washington later said that the cause of the crash was the aggressive maneuver of the Russian Su-27 fighter, which touched the propeller of the device. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation indicated that the UAV violated “the borders of the area of the temporary regime for the use of airspace,” which Russia established in connection with the start of a military operation. A few days later, the Su-27 pilots were presented with state awards.
Read more about the incident in the Kommersant article “Russia and the United States have become unsafely close.”
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